Interpol issues Blue Corner Notice against Prajwal Revanna
Janata Dal (S) State president accuses the SIT of working at the behest of the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister
Interpol issued on Tuesday a Blue Corner Notice against “absconding” Hassan JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, accused of multiple instances of sexual abuse.
This will help the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case to locate Prajwal Revanna. He ©ew to Germany from Bengaluru on April 27 using his diplomatic passport.
Location not known
His whereabouts are currently not known, amid reports that he later ©ew to Dubai or Hungary. The SIT had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation, the liaison authority with Interpol in India, to get Interpol to issue this notice three days ago.
On Tuesday, it was issued to all 196 member countries of Interpol.
A Blue Corner Notice is issued to “collect additional information about a person’s identity, location, or activities in relation to a criminal investigation”.
This notice is di§erent from a Red Corner Notice that is issued to “seek the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence”.
Accusing the Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Government of Karnataka to investigate the alleged sexual exploitation involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, of “working at the behest of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar”, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has demanded the probe be handed over to the CBI if the focus is on providing justice to the women victims. This is in line with the demand made by the BJP, which is an alliance partner of the JDS.
“If the CM has any morality, he should dismiss Mr. Shivakumar from the cabinet. We will also complain to the Governor of Karnataka,” he said in Bengaluru on Tuesday, but was quick to add that he was making no eort to protect Prajwal Revanna in the case.
Terming Mr. Shivakumar as the “key conspirator” in the distribution of pen drives containing explicit sexual content allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna and several women, the former Chief Minister said, “He is behind the release of the pen drives. The SIT ocials are behaving like agents of Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar.” He mocked SIT as “Shivakumar Investigation Team” and “Siddaramaiah Investigation Team”.
“Why has SIT not issued a notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his claim that there are 400 women victims? He must surely have some basis to make that claim,” he further said. He also accused the AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep
Singh Surjewala’s involvement in the pen drive release.
“While the State women’s commission sought an investigation into the alleged sex exploitation and also against those who distributed the pen drive, the latter has been ignored,” the former Chief Minister claimed. “Let the truth come out on the alleged abduction by H.D. Revanna too. Why has SIT not produced the alleged victim in court?” he asked. The Congress, he claimed, is not interested in providing justice, “but working to bring down Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The former chief minister said, “The SIT has to conduct a fair investigation. On the one hand, it announces circulation or possession of the videos is a crime. On the other hand, it has not taken any action against ve persons, including the alleged key distributor of the pen drive Naveen Gowda, despite a complaint being lodged against them in Hassan.”
Stating that there is no question of protecting Prajwal Revanna, he said, “It is a sad development for Karnataka. It has made us hang our heads in shame. I will not protect anyone, whoever it is. I will neither interfere nor support Prajwal Revanna in the investigation.”
He claimed to be ignorant of the whereabouts of the MP, now believed to be in Germany, and that he is not in touch with him.
“I would have not given the ticket to Prajwal Revanna if the pen drive had come to my notice earlier. Yes, there were issues in giving him a ticket. I wanted to change the candidate after party workers had complained about his behaviour of not respecting seniors and party workers,” he said.